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Clock Tower: Rewind

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The 1995 point-and-click classic: run and hide from the Scissorman.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (88% of 511 reviews); Metacritic 68 (PC, 7 critics); OpenCritic 69 (35 critics); 4.64 of 5 on the PlayStation Store (547 ratings)
Length: about 3½ hours (HowLongToBeat main story)
Players: 1
Made by: WayForward, Limited Run Games (Human Entertainment original)
Released: 2024

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop GOG

What frightens Teenage orphan Jennifer is brought to the Barrows family mansion, where the other girls disappear one by one and the Scissorman, a small, unstoppable killer with giant shears, hunts her from room to room; you can only hide, run and find a way out.
Content: jumpscares, blood, gore, violence, death.

Clock Tower: Rewind is WayForward's revival of Clock Tower, the 1995 Super Famicom horror game, translated and released outside Japan for the first time. As teenage orphan Jennifer, you explore the Barrows manor in point-and-click, looking for items and a way out while the shears-wielding Scissorman hunts you. You can play the original as it was or a reworked Rewind mode.

About Clock Tower: Rewind

Clock Tower was released in Japan in 1995 by Human Entertainment and is one of the pioneers of the survival horror genre. Clock Tower: Rewind, by WayForward with SUNSOFT and Limited Run Games, brought it officially to the rest of the world for the first time in late October 2024, on Windows PC (Steam and GOG), PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Jennifer, a teenage orphan, is adopted with her friends by the wealthy Mr. Barrows and taken to his isolated manor. Soon after they arrive, the other girls vanish, and Jennifer finds herself alone in a house where a figure with giant shears, the Scissorman, appears without warning. You move her through the house by pointing and clicking, searching rooms for items and secrets.

When the Scissorman comes, you have no weapon. You run, and you look for a place to hide or a way to trick him, while Jennifer's portrait at the bottom of the screen shows her growing panic. Item locations, events and the Scissorman's appearances are randomised, so each run plays differently, and there are multiple endings depending on what you find and do. The store notes jump scares, and the screenshots show bloody bodies; ESRB lists Blood and Gore and Violence, and PEGI rates it 16.

Rewind lets you play the original as it was or a Rewind mode with extra content and quality-of-life changes. It adds a new animated opening, motion comics with English voice acting, opening and ending theme songs (the vocal theme is sung by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), an art gallery, a music player, border artwork, save states and a creator interview. Text is in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

HowLongToBeat puts the main story at about 3½ hours and seeing everything at about 9½. Critics were mixed (Metacritic 68 on PC, OpenCritic 69), while Steam players rate it Very Positive. It suits players curious about horror game history and fans of stalker horror.

How to play Clock Tower: Rewind

Point and click to move Jennifer around the mansion and examine objects and rooms.
Collect items and use them to open new areas and uncover what the Barrows family hides.
When the Scissorman appears, run, and look for hiding places such as closets, curtains and beds.
Use parts of the house to fend him off or escape, and keep Jennifer's panic from rising too high.
Play again to find the other endings; items and events change between runs.

Screenshots

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: in a purple pixel-art room with a piano, the Scissorman raises giant shears as Jennifer runs, with a wide-eyed panic portrait below

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: the Scissorman stands over a bloody body in a green hall by the stairs as Jennifer cries out "Anne!!"

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: Jennifer crouches between two beds in a red-brown bedroom, framed by a border of her portrait and the clock tower

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: an animated scene of Jennifer running with her arm raised as the Scissorman's giant shears reach for her from behind

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: a pixel-art jump scare: a screaming, decayed face bursts out between purple doors above Jennifer's portrait

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: at night by a bare tree, Jennifer faces the Scissorman as he raises his shears outside a wooden shed

Clock Tower: Rewind screenshot: Jennifer sits on the floor of a wrecked purple room near a mangled body and debris

Tips

Learn where the hiding places are early so you know where to run.
Rest Jennifer when you can; panic makes her clumsy.
Try Original mode after Rewind to see the 1995 version as it was.

Questions

Is Clock Tower: Rewind the original game?

Yes, it is the 1995 Super Famicom Clock Tower, translated and re-released, with an Original mode and an improved Rewind mode.

How long is Clock Tower: Rewind?

HowLongToBeat puts the main story at about 3½ hours, main story plus extras at about 5½ and completing everything at about 9½. There are multiple endings and randomised events to replay for.

Can you fight the Scissorman?

Not directly. You hide from him, run, and sometimes use the house to stun or escape him.

What platforms is Clock Tower: Rewind on?

Windows PC on Steam and GOG, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. It came out at the end of October 2024.